The charges that were leveled against former Georgia tailback Isaiah Crowell last summer and ultimately led to his dismissal by the Bulldogs were dismissed by the State of Georgia this week.

According to court documents obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday, the felony charge of possessing a weapon with an altered ID mark and misdemeanor charges of possession and carrying a concealed weapon without a license and carrying a weapon within in a school zone, were dropped by Athens-Clarke County District Attorney Kenneth Mauldin.

In the dismissal document filed by assistant D.A. James Chafin, it was explained to the court while the gun was found under the driver’s seat of Crowell’s car, which belonged to his mother, “the state would be unable to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that this defendant actually possessed the weapon or even knew it was there.”

This is what sucks about living in a 24-hour news cycle/Internet reaction world, that rush to judgment that feels so good, yet ultimately holds no accountability. There’s no place for nuance, or for letting little things like the judicial system run their course.

Which is why I can’t blame Mark Richt for the decision to let Crowell go. Standing by the kid would have been an enormous distraction. But I bet Richt gets plenty of mileage out of this going forward dealing with the media and its next rush to judgment.

103 responses to “Guilty until proven innocent.”

Question:
If the officer “smelled” marijuana, but none was found, then he couldn’t possibly have smelled any. Would that not render his search invalid and thus make any evidence found impermissible? Or am I being much too literal with this 4th amendment thing?

Yeah, I thought of that right after I typed that comment. I’ve never been in a position that required me to hastily dispose of a bag of marijuana, so I’m not experienced in the methods employed. However, I do wonder at what point an officer’s olfactory senses became a good enough reason to justify probable cause. Seems like something that would be a little too subjective. But that’s just me.

I would guess that if they had just smoked it all, they wouldn’t need to use smell for probable cause. Licking windows and proclaiming they taste like snozberries is pretty indicative of intoxication of one kind or another…

Right. Except nobody acts like that after smoking a doobie. Ever. A strong odor is the most obvious indicator that someone has been smoking weed. Plus it’s a lot easier to smell it after it’s been smoked compared to when it’s still in the bag.

Smoke smell lingers in fabric and other materials. A burned up dooby (roach) can then be eaten. Not saying this was done, but could be true that it was detected although no physical evidence is present.

What was the haul from that traffic stop? Certainly they stopped others. Resultant?

I had a cop stop me on a boat, on a windy day and used the “I smelled MJ” as an excuse to search me and my boat. He found nothing but a few sandwiches and fruit juices and spent 30 minutes going through all my tackle to see if we had any illegal gear.

No, you don’t understand. All black people smell like marijuana. Latinos too. That is the only plausible explanation for why so many stops are initiated because the officer “detected a faint odor of marijuana,” yet never actually discovered a trace of marijuana in the car.

On a related note, it’s amazing how often blacks/latinos “follow too closely” on I-75–another common basis for road stops. They must just be bad drivers . . .

Believe it or not, there is still a lot of stuff that happens in the “justice” system that is clouded by race. Cops, prosecutors, defense attorneys, jurors and judges are all human and some people (many unfortunately) still allow race to color their view of the facts/evidence. I am a lawyer and tried a case involving an African-American defendant where a white juror thought my guy was guilty because his co-defendant (not my client) was a “thug” because of his dreads. That was clearly racist and thank god the other jurors stood strong against that bastard.

Just because it happens *sometimes* doesn’t mean it’s appropriate to say that it *did* happen this time. Didn’t Crowell fail a drug test or two during his time in Athens? With all that we know about him I think it’s a pretty strong leap of faith to call a cop a bold faced liar.

I know one of the cops who was working the traffic stop that night. This wasn’t about race. Honestly, knowing this officer, and several others in town, college-aged kid + entitled athlete are more likely to prove suspicious to them. There’s definitely a they-must-be-up-to-something feeling with teens and young adults in the APD, some way more than others. This particular officer is a nice guy, very conservative, but not like some of the others I’ve known, who has called all attendees of the local high schools “animals.”

according to the UGA Student-Athlete handbook — perhaps the most-thumbed reference tome on campus — any felony arrest carries “immediate suspension from athletic competition.”
Wonder how long his case would have taken to get resolved if he had not been dismissed from the team?

While we rarely see it happen, or even suspect it in Clarke County, could this be a “the kid has already been kicked out of school and off of the team, maybe he has suffered enough”? Maybe Richt spoke with the DA? Either way, hopefully this is a turning point for this kid.

Being a father who has had experience with law enforcement, cops ALWAYS say there was enough evidence of pot in the car to arrest the subject, but they were lenient. It’s part of their bullying script.

I know it is the norm on this blog, but the constant painting of ALL cops as racist bullies gets to me.

Did these cops handle things wrong? Definitely looks that way to me
Are there a lot of racist/bully cops? Hell yes

But please consider that cops don’t ALWAYS say there was enough evidence of pot in the car to arrest the subject. Some cops actually do the right thing. In fact, I know a lot whom I believe do the right thing daily.

Can we critique the individuals who do the wrong thing (and even the system in many cases), but please consider that there are plenty of good cops out there?

JRod…”always” ?? Cops have a tough job. No matter which way things fall, they often get painted as assholes. I’ve never been stopped or been in a car that was stopped that it wasn’t deserved…yet the cop is always “an asshole”. I’d say the chances are way over 90 percent (my guess) that if you or anyone else is stopped by a police officer you deserve it. Just because no grass was found doesn’t mean none was used…ever throw anything out the window? I don’t know what happened that night, and I’m glad IC won’t have this on his record (and hopefully he can get on with his life), but the “blame the cop first” attitude is kind of stale.

You’re looking at it the wrong way. During my years in Athens I went full retard (see the movie Tropic Thunder for reference) many times. Did dumb things, just like every other college kid does. Many times these things were even in the nearby vicinity of the police. My record remains clean.

It just seems that if APD took the same line against every college kid as they did against football players it’d be one thing. But I don’t think thats the case at all.

You have no reason to state that’s the case except your prejudice against cops.

I’ve known law enforcement people who, when smelling pot at a party, made no effort to use their nose to make an arrest. I have seen some that reflexively jerked their head toward the area when smoke was detected and people were told to cool it. They did.

Even though I am a scofflaw for smoking pot, I’ve never had police scarfing me out. Instead, They have ignored the smell and permitted me to go on my way as long as they didn’t stop me for driving unsafe. What has been a respect for the job most cops do and the danger they place themselves into each day, there are; however, those who have other enforcement activities, but aren’t cops. Fish and Game in my area took joy in busting people at a romantic area on the lake. Teenagers smoking pot is the big enforcement catch for many of the cop wannabees.

Cops shouldn’t take any hit for doing their job at a traffic stop. When it happened, I didn’t hear a soul condemning the cops. Why now?

I didn’t get the sense that you were preaching for Isaiah’s benefit and not until the last of all posts did I read anything approaching the present outlook on loss of rights in this case. At no time did I see that you thought Isaiah was guiltless from the arrest and propose that it was an overeagerness by the cops.

I certainly agree with your last statement in that blog concerning the erosion of our rights during the last 30 yrs of the War on Drugs. What do you think of the present course of using technically apped chemical detectors held surreptiously in their hands at your window while you talk to the police? In 1990, in Canada, I had one held near me at a road stop as I was driving the family to dinner. They detected alcohol and asked how much I had to drink. Had one drink before leaving home and told them so; whereupon, the Mountie replied that he detected the same level. No problem and I drove to dinner. Nowadays I hear of us using that in law enforcement PLUS using handheld.chemical detectors for pot smoking. Has that come to pass? Is it still continuing to be pushed? Do you think that this will be legalized (noninvasive detection vs blood and pee testing)? What is the jump from asking you to let them search to surreptious detection (as far as sliding down a path of no return)? Would like to hear from you and other barristers concerning rights erosion based upon the war on drugs.

Agree, cops of all colors should be obeyed and offenders regardless of color should be charged. That is the only way society can work and not supporting that is weird to me. Deal with bad cops more harshly than normal offenders when found but don’t ever excuse criminal behavior. As good as the posters here are on football they often sound like rebellious teenagers when it comes to law and order. Charging and convicting innocent people is terrible, no one denies that, but not supporting the enforcement of laws is far more concerning than the occasional mistake.

While there may not have been enough evidence to convict Crowell in court a football team’s rules can be different. Having a bad attitude isn’t against the law but a coach can, and should, dismiss players who are problematic. IC was a cancer on the team and had so many chances to change his behavior/attitude that Richt had no choice but to remove him. And if I get stopped today with a pound of cocaine in my car I don’t think linking me to how it was acquired will matter. Who I associate with, how I drive, when I am out, and where I am at what time of night will increase my chances of getting caught.

I think the DA may have felt there were better uses of his resources and would be happy to see Crowell get things together in his life. But people black or white, athletes or nerds, should be arrested when they break the law and their bad behavior shouldn’t be excused.

What do you base that on? I’ve never seen a single “good riddance” comment from one of his teammates.

Again, did Crowell turn into an enormous distraction/problem for Richt? Absolutely, and I can see why MR felt he had no choice in what he did. But once you toss this situation out, how different were Crowell’s off the field problems from, say, Alec Ogletree’s?

I agree that dealing with the problem cops harshly doesn’t happen nearly enough. My only nuanced disagreement with some commenters would be the extremely broad brushes cops get painted with. I’d argue they have no higher of a percentage of assholishness than bankers, real estate agents, teachers, etc. It’s just more obvious (and potentially dangerous) when cops are assholes.

I’m 100% on board with your analysis of Crowell. He strikes me as a dumbass, albeit a dumbass who to my knowledge never beat anybody up or made threats, assaulted women, etc.

Not much different than other players we’ve had in Athens (Ogletree was a good example)

But this was an untraceable gun found that was that way because it had been used in the commission of a crime or was going to be used. I didn’t read where Alec was arrested under those circumstances.

UGA had no course except to dismiss him from the student body, I don’t care how the gun got there. Has anyone spoken up and claimed ownership or that it was his Momma’s? That leaves only Crowell responsible out there driving his gun around with other players in the car.

Mac is correct. His anti-coach in-your-face activities at the SECCG and before was a cancer of disrespect toward the coach and our school that he represented. Crowell cut his own cord when he did that. Whether he was injured or whatever, he has no excuse for thrusting that crap into our football program.

That’s similar to saying that what Rodney Garner did for us early on gives him the excuse for not recruiting linemen hard and affecting the team negatively later. Doesn’t compute here.

A personal contact who verified the confrontation of team leaders with IC before the SECCG after a practice and his “timidity” of hiding behind the green jersey, his observed aloofness when not playing and sitting alone on the bench, and his public rebuke at Richt after his personal foul against LSU. Granted, you can say “cancer” is overstated or that it may have been Stage 2 and not Stage 4. I don’t find it unusual that there weren’t “good riddance” comments, the team seems pretty good about speaking publicly about internal problems. Even last year when the length of suspensions were not known there were no comments about who would play from the team and they had to know who was practicing with the first team. I agree the public distraction was an issue CMR had to address.

I never doubted there was unanimity on either side and confident IC had supporters/friends. CW’s public rant at the fans was poor form regardless of his thoughts on IC. The bigger issues are the divisiveness of Crowell among team/fans and the circus that seemed to surround him. I am sure he isn’t without his good points and wish him well but I was not unhappy with Richt’s decision then, or now. I recall saying on your blog that week we would be better in 2012 than we were in 2011 at RB. Not right all the time on predictions, and I certainly didn’t see a season like Gurley had coming, but I don’t think we could overcome the lack of dependability that Crowell exhibited in 2011.

It occurs to me that CMR knew a lot more about IC and his situation, attitudes, etc., than any of us bloggers who are on the outside looking in. He dismissed the kid for whatever reasons he had and second guessing his decision without knowing what he knew is silly and really kind of pointless.

I’m glad Crowell got off, for his sake. Hopefully he learned from this. He still has a future in college football and maybe in the NFL and I, for one, wish him well. That said, anyone who believes that Crowell didn’t know that gun was under the seat………

Even more amazing is the lack of evidence being there all along and no one addressed it for over a year. Where is the “lack of evidence” when a gun with filed serial numbers is found in your possession? I don’t think the dismissal for that reason plays out to the facts.

Crowell was cut slack and given a gift. You mean those bad ole law enforcement people were nice and gave an African American a second chance by not having him adjudicated in court? Doesn’t sound like racism along any path you want to travel in this matter. And accusing cops of that because Crowell has a black skin IS racism.

My point is that while he’s right on the law, OJ Simpson was also right on the law back when he got away with murder. Due process is a good thing, but to suddenly presume Crowell is some unfortunate choir boy, and that everyone should all obviously agree, because he got off when he had a damn pistol with the serial number filed off under his seat is disingenuous at best.

Nobody should be convicted of anything in a court of law without being proven guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt. But the rest of society, sports writers and former Coaches/AD’s included, don’t have any obligation to act like a crime wasn’t obviously committed just because someone wasn’t convicted, or the DA dropped the case because the evidence was shit or the cop didn’t handle the search properly or whatever the reason is.

Cheez, Bluto, we are learning here also. When we discussed this last year, these legal hair splittings as to what constitutes “possession” are like discussing the difference between “shall” and “will” legally. I’m now hearing that possession means holding it in your hand or carrying it on the body.

Gee, I feel safe to have an empty beer can discovered under a seat of my truck and just tell the cops that I don’t know anything about it. Or a gun. I’m hearing that there is no proof of possession as long as I don’t buy it nor have a receipt. I learn new things everyday from my fellow Dawgs.

Based on my personal experience, most of which is admittedly more than a bit aged (late 70’s, early 80’s), I doubt racism, of any overt variety, was at work here. But I absolutely do think the ACC PD has a long history of viewing young males of any color with great suspicion.

I have twice had firearms aimed at me by Athens’ finest for no damn good reason at all, once while walking home from work at 3 in the morning (cop wanted to know what I had in my hands–sweet roll and milk!–and what I was doing out so late); and one evening when my girlfriend and I were leaving my garage apartment (they had the area staked out looking for a burglar; he lowered his rifle and let us go once I convinced him I lived in the apartment). Not to mention a couple of pull overs for no reason at all. And a dogged attempt to nail me for a gas theft that never occurred. Hell, I was a pretty good kid, never smoked a doobie in my life (tho they probably could’ve gotten me for DUI a time or 10, something I’d not proud of). Had other friends (white and black) who had their own similar experiences. I can also personally attest to several instances of stunning incompetence–including a successful robbery of a convenience store while the cops had it staked out!

I’ve known a lot of guys on the force. Even have a relative who’s a deputy. Some are jerks, some are damn good guys, and I really hate to cast aspersions on a group based on a few a-holes, especially since my experiences are perhaps over-ripe. But I lived in four different locales in my teens and twenties, traveled quite a bit, and Athens cops were definitely most aggressive when it came to dealing with young men.

The old “I smelled an odor of marijuana” is like “I’ll call you in the morning” – whenever I see that I suspect an unlawful search. Total bs. An excuse to search a car to see what he can come up with. Like staying in a poker game hoping for the straight. That said, it was time for him to go after all of the other nonsense. Richt again shows good judgment.

Holy Shiite everyone! Are you missing something? He CONSENTED to the search. You don’t need probable cause when the owner of the vehicle consents to the search. Cops did their job correctly and found an illegal firearm. How many of you are comfortable with a bunch of college kids driving around on a Saturday night with a loaded gun in the car. The cops made Athens safer that night by taking care of a dangerous situation. That’s their job.

The weird thing about consent is that, even when it’s technically consent, it really isn’t consent (to write a confusing sentence). There are all these legal standards about it has to be free and voluntary, but courts adopt quite a misguided notion of human nature when they consider what is free and voluntary. For instance, when asking for consent, cops don’t have to inform you of your right to not consent. Many people, when put in a situation of a cop requesting something assume they HAVE to do what the cop says; that can be especially true in the black community which does face greater police scrutiny (whether it be due to race, socio-economic status, areas of town, WHATEVER) than many middle-class, well-to-do white people.

I’m sure Corwell legally consented to the search. I’m just not sure it is as free and voluntary as I, in my admitted never-grew-out-of-teenage-anarchism ways, would like for free and voluntary to be.

I’ve had a friend who was stopped for a minor traffic violation and had his car searched after the officer smelled pot. It was a legit search; My friend told me he had tossed the joint out the window, and he was sweating they would find something in the car. You can’t paint all cops as dishonest. Well, you can, but it’s really stupid. Like thinking that Athens police target football players. So, then, they have permanent tails on team members they want to bust? Yeah, and George Bush took down the Twin Towers.

I don’t understand this sentence: “Gee, maybe now we know why Isaiah Crowell was nervous during that arrest.”

He was nervous b/c he didn’t know his mommy stashed a Luger with the serial #’s scratched off under the front seat?

I hope IC learned a lesson too. Pretty boy athletes aren’t above the law. No guns on campus. No concealed guns without a permit.

And if we are to believe the ludicrous assertion that the gun belongs to mommy, perhaps he’ll learn to conduct a check of any car he borrows from mommy to make sure he cleans out the emery boards, coupons, back issues of McCalls and Luger 9mm with the serial# scratched off.

You dont have to accept that the gun belonged to his mom, you should look at the assertion that the gun definitely belonged to him. Since it was not in his possession, making the leap to possession requires a leap. Make it if you want, but know that not everyone would.

If it is within reach then it is treated as “in his possession”. If his mommy wanted to hide a 9mm Luger in IC’s car, she should’ve put it in the trunk where it is not legally “on his person”.

from OCGA 16-11-127.1 “it shall be unlawful for any person to carry to or to possess or have under such person’s control while within a school safety zone or at a school building, school function, or school property..”

The felony for scratching off the serial number was rightly dropped b/c this crime requires knowledge. The lesser charge of possession on school grounds should not have been dropped IMHO.

The Keystone Kops in Athens are not the police but the incompetent DA who has pursued a “catch and release” program with Athens criminals for years.

It wasn’t a Luger. I initially got excited because it appeared that while IC may have been stupid he seemed to have excellent taste in firearms. However as Lugers are very expensive because of their high cool factor, collectability, and relatively scarce numbers I checked out the police arrest report online suspecting that the caliber was a 9mm Luger but the firearm itself was something substantially less cool.

I was correct. He had a Hi Point C9 with the serial number filed off. The pistol retails for just over $100 in most places and is quite possibly one of the ugliest weapons for sale today. They do have a reputation for reliability though and Hi Point has superior warranties.

I can’t blame the guy for having a cheap gun in college – money is always tight for students. But having the serial number filed off is definitely “How stupid can you be?” territory.

Sad that Jimmy Williamson and his Keystone Kops get away with this shoddy police work a lot more than people know. Personal example is my son was recently charged for underage possession of alcohol without any proof- i.e. a blood test or breath test to confirm the allegation. In addition the incident report included facts/ statements that were completely untrue and unproven. Needless to say the charges had to be dropped. $500 bond was required when my son was charged and he was incarcerated over 8 hours on the bogus charges. It’s all a game to increase revenue.

If it was underage possession they wouldn’t have to do a breath or blood analysis to determine if he was DUI, would they? They didn’t arrest him for DUI, just that he possessed it. If there was nothing to base “underage possession”, how can they even process him without the evidence?

Something is wrong here and it may be the absence of wrongdoing being twisted for our anti-cop consumption. Methinks that Eggin Dawg may be a troll. Who would ever admit to that title?

What’s wrong here is that too many think that if something can be exused with a technicality or the lamest defense, that it makes it OK. This kind of thinking is what gives people like OJ legal legs to walk out of a murder trial. If your kids misbehaving you should punish him even if the law doesn’t.

Quote Of The Day

“But outside of that, the biggest advantage you can have is have good leadership, have a veteran football team, and when you’ve got that, it doesn’t matter whether you have spring practice or not. When you don’t have that, it’s tougher, when you don’t have leadership and you don’t have the experience at certain positions.”— Kirby Smart, Dawgs247, 3/31/20